Beam Me Up, Scotty...
Gotta love the Press Briefings:
Q Does the President agree with the Vice President that the Iraqi insurgents are in their last throes?
MR. McCLELLAN: He agrees with -- I think you should put his comments in context, because the President agrees that there is significant progress being made by the Iraqi people on the political front. And that's what the Vice President was talking about in his remarks. He was talking about the significant progress that's being made, and he was talking about how the terrorists, the ruthless enemy that we're working to defeat, along with the Iraqi security forces, has not been able to stop that progress.
Every step of the way, the Iraqi people are meeting their objectives. I just went through those objectives that they're meeting. The political process is moving forward. It's moving forward on schedule. And the Iraqi people have shown that they want to live freely. Democracy is taking hold.
There are real challenges that lie ahead, and the Vice President talked about that in the context of his remarks. The stakes are very high. That's why it's important we continue to support the Iraqi people as they move forward.
So I think you have to look at the context of his remarks, as I've talked about over recent days.
Q Do you think that the insurgency is growing weaker? Or is it getting stronger?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, the commanders on the ground were just briefing on that, Terry. You should look to General Abizaid's comment, and he talked about that. Look at exactly what he said. There is a determined and ruthless enemy that we face in Iraq. They have made this a central front in the war on terrorism. The stakes are very high. That enemy recognizes how high those stakes are. We recognize how high the stakes are. And the Iraqi people recognize how high the stakes are. A free Iraq will be a powerful force for change in a dangerous region of the world, a region that has been a breeding ground for terrorists, a breeding ground for people who have hijacked airplanes and flown them into buildings and taken the lives of thousands of innocent people.
And that's why it's so important that we succeed in Iraq. And I think the American people recognize, no matter where you stood before, that it's important that we succeed for those very reasons.
Q So stronger, not weaker?
MR. McCLELLAN: Again, the commanders are briefing right now, and they are the ones who are on the ground. They are in the best position to give you that. General Abizaid just spoke about it a short time ago and talked about the determined and ruthless enemy that we're facing. Foreign terrorists are coming to Iraq because they recognize how high the stakes are. Well, we do, too. That's why we're fighting them in Iraq and that's why we're going to defeat them in Iraq.
Q But he seems to have contradicted -- Abizaid seems to have contradicted what the Vice President said, on the face of it.
MR. McCLELLAN: No, I think you have to look at the context of the Vice President's comments.
Q I did, I looked.
MR. McCLELLAN: And you don't point them out. What did he talk about?
Q He said there are more foreign fighters coming into Iraq than there were six months ago.
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, we can selectively quote people or we can look at the context of the comments, and I think that's what is important to do. That's why I was stepping back and pointing out to you what the Vice President was talking about.
Q So he was talking about the political process moving forward, not -- let me ask you this. What is the Vice President basing his -- where is he getting his evidence? What is he basing his claim on, if the commanders on the ground are saying --
MR. McCLELLAN: It doesn't appear that you've looked at the context of his comments, and I would encourage you to do that. And I just addressed this question when you asked it.
Q I was there in this -- when he said, "in the throes of," --
MR. McCLELLAN: You were in the interview?
Q He did not mean political, he meant the whole situation in Iraq.
MR. McCLELLAN: You were in the interview? I think you should look --
Q You can't change his meaning. You guys are trying to step back now, and I don't blame you.
MR. McCLELLAN: No, I disagree with you.
Go ahead though, Jessica.
So let's get this on the record: According to the White House Press Secretary, Vice President Cheney was talking about Iraq's political progression, not their military progression, when he said "last throes." He was referring to the citizens of Iraq electing their future leaders and working on their constitution, not the fighting going on outside.
But I could have sworn I read:
"I think we may well have some kind of presence there over a period of time," Cheney said. "The level of activity that we see today from a military standpoint, I think, will clearly decline. I think they're in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency."
Q Does the President agree with the Vice President that the Iraqi insurgents are in their last throes?
MR. McCLELLAN: He agrees with -- I think you should put his comments in context, because the President agrees that there is significant progress being made by the Iraqi people on the political front. And that's what the Vice President was talking about in his remarks. He was talking about the significant progress that's being made, and he was talking about how the terrorists, the ruthless enemy that we're working to defeat, along with the Iraqi security forces, has not been able to stop that progress.
Every step of the way, the Iraqi people are meeting their objectives. I just went through those objectives that they're meeting. The political process is moving forward. It's moving forward on schedule. And the Iraqi people have shown that they want to live freely. Democracy is taking hold.
There are real challenges that lie ahead, and the Vice President talked about that in the context of his remarks. The stakes are very high. That's why it's important we continue to support the Iraqi people as they move forward.
So I think you have to look at the context of his remarks, as I've talked about over recent days.
Q Do you think that the insurgency is growing weaker? Or is it getting stronger?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, the commanders on the ground were just briefing on that, Terry. You should look to General Abizaid's comment, and he talked about that. Look at exactly what he said. There is a determined and ruthless enemy that we face in Iraq. They have made this a central front in the war on terrorism. The stakes are very high. That enemy recognizes how high those stakes are. We recognize how high the stakes are. And the Iraqi people recognize how high the stakes are. A free Iraq will be a powerful force for change in a dangerous region of the world, a region that has been a breeding ground for terrorists, a breeding ground for people who have hijacked airplanes and flown them into buildings and taken the lives of thousands of innocent people.
And that's why it's so important that we succeed in Iraq. And I think the American people recognize, no matter where you stood before, that it's important that we succeed for those very reasons.
Q So stronger, not weaker?
MR. McCLELLAN: Again, the commanders are briefing right now, and they are the ones who are on the ground. They are in the best position to give you that. General Abizaid just spoke about it a short time ago and talked about the determined and ruthless enemy that we're facing. Foreign terrorists are coming to Iraq because they recognize how high the stakes are. Well, we do, too. That's why we're fighting them in Iraq and that's why we're going to defeat them in Iraq.
Q But he seems to have contradicted -- Abizaid seems to have contradicted what the Vice President said, on the face of it.
MR. McCLELLAN: No, I think you have to look at the context of the Vice President's comments.
Q I did, I looked.
MR. McCLELLAN: And you don't point them out. What did he talk about?
Q He said there are more foreign fighters coming into Iraq than there were six months ago.
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, we can selectively quote people or we can look at the context of the comments, and I think that's what is important to do. That's why I was stepping back and pointing out to you what the Vice President was talking about.
Q So he was talking about the political process moving forward, not -- let me ask you this. What is the Vice President basing his -- where is he getting his evidence? What is he basing his claim on, if the commanders on the ground are saying --
MR. McCLELLAN: It doesn't appear that you've looked at the context of his comments, and I would encourage you to do that. And I just addressed this question when you asked it.
Q I was there in this -- when he said, "in the throes of," --
MR. McCLELLAN: You were in the interview?
Q He did not mean political, he meant the whole situation in Iraq.
MR. McCLELLAN: You were in the interview? I think you should look --
Q You can't change his meaning. You guys are trying to step back now, and I don't blame you.
MR. McCLELLAN: No, I disagree with you.
Go ahead though, Jessica.
So let's get this on the record: According to the White House Press Secretary, Vice President Cheney was talking about Iraq's political progression, not their military progression, when he said "last throes." He was referring to the citizens of Iraq electing their future leaders and working on their constitution, not the fighting going on outside.
But I could have sworn I read:
"I think we may well have some kind of presence there over a period of time," Cheney said. "The level of activity that we see today from a military standpoint, I think, will clearly decline. I think they're in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency."
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